Sure, today we love to “like” on Facebook and tweet on Twitter like social media butterflies. But will our virtual circles be as important to us decades from now?

Matt Wilbanks, CEO and co-founder of HelpSocial: “They’ll definitely be important — it’s all about using the information from the circles in the right context. Tech that can bring context from our personal networks into everyday situations is going to be everywhere. Imagine going into a restaurant in a new city and looking at the digital menu on the table and next to each item it shows how many people you know have tried the food and gave their rating, shows the last time they visited and that one of your Twitter friends that you recently followed is even at the same restaurant right now at another table.”

“That’s not even that far off. Apps like Foursquare and Yelp can do most of that today from our phones. Our virtual circles are ultimately not going to be virtual any more, they’ll be data that becomes part of everyday situations and fuels new personal experiences.

Laura Elizabeth Morales-Welch, KGBTexas communications, public affairs senior account executive: “I think our virtual circles will be even more important in 2050. As Twitter and Facebook became part of my daily routine, I developed a following and friendships with people from across the country and in some cases the world. These virtual circles led me to a lot of opportunity in my professional life and even some lifelong friendships. Especially in the case of long-distance friendships, I don’t feel so far away from them, because I can follow their lives online.”

“Tech is finding more ways to interact with us on a personal level. Look at the Apple Watch’s features — you can feel a heartbeat, or a tap from another person! I still strongly believe in the importance of personal relationships. Nothing can replace a real human interaction, but tech enhances our relationships and makes it easier to communicate.”

Dale Blasingame, social journalism professor at Texas State University and former WOAI-TV producer: “The way we interact with social changes by the day, so it’s impossible to guess where we’ll be in 50 years. But I think the sharing economy online (apps like Uber and Airbnb, to name a few) is here to stay. We’re now allowing ‘strangers’ to drive us around or let us stay in their homes or vice versa. That’s a pretty personal boundary that a lot of us are totally comfortable with now. So I would expect social will continue to move in that direction instead of away from it.”

Lisa Marie Barocas√, LMG Communications Communications Consultant: “Although devices such as laptops, tablets and smartphones (like the one I’m typing on right now) will be a thing of the past in the year 2050, I believe that virtual circles will thrive, but not in the way we experience it today. The platform, yet to be invented, will be unlike anything we’ve seen. Maybe all we’ll have to do is wonder how a long lost friend from high school is doing and the information will instantly download to our brain. Or at birth, maybe a “Siri” chip will be inserted in our brains and information will be readily available at our fingertips. Meetings, high school reunions, and visiting grandparents would take place in virtual rooms where everything looks, smells and tastes real but really it’s just a chip in your brain that’s creating the experience. Socializing with people around the world will be as easy as jumping in a car and driving to Starbucks to meet a friend.”

René A. Guzman is a features writer for the San Antonio Express-News. He writes about geek and pop culture as well as consumer gadgets and technology, and writes a blog called Geek Speak that covers comic books, tabletop gaming and other geek culture in San Antonio and beyond. He has also written about health and fitness and other consumer topics. In addition to the Express-News, Guzman's work has appeared in the Baltimore Sun, Beaumont Enterprise, Chicago Tribune, Houston Chronicle and San Francisco Chronicle. Before joining the Express-News in December 1998, the San Antonio native co-owned a college humor magazine named Bitter, for which he wrote, designed and edited, as well as distributed at various campuses and businesses citywide.